1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices and methods for protecting the hand against injury from an impact. More particularly, this invention relates to new and improved glove type or structures and processes especially useful to protect the bones of the hand, including the metacarpal bones and knuckles, as well as the tissues in a hand of the user, from injury caused by a traumatic blow. The present invention is especially useful for baseball players while participating as batters in a baseball game.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many sports, the hands of participating players are highly subject to injury during play. A hand injury not only can cause severe pain, discomfort and disruption in the personal life of the player, but also can sideline that player for an entire season, hampering development and performance for that player in the sport. Such injuries impact team performance, as well by denying the services of the player to the team. For the amateur player, a hard injury impedes playing time and thus skill development at all ages. In professional sports, hand injuries can have a dramatic effect, such as a negative economic impact on the injured player, as well as on the team of that player. The team must pay for a player to replace the injured party all the while that they may have a responsibility to continue paying the player whose services are denied to the team while disabled. If the player is exceptionally skilled in the sport, a forced injury absence of the player may affect the overall team performance which in turn could well affect game attendance, playoff chances, fan support, and the financial reward for all.
Specifically, the hands of a baseball player are highly subject to injury while batting. The baseball batter must attempt to hit the ball with a bat as it moves at least partially through an area over home plate called the strike zone where the ball is supposedly hittable by the batter. Historically, baseball pitchers have developed pitches intended to fool the batter into thinking the ball will not enter the strike zone, but which actually curve or "move" into the strike zone at the last moment. Thus, in order to hit a pitched ball, the player must watch the ball from its release by the pitcher until it crosses the plate.
With the refinement of sophisticated pitching techniques and greater athletic skill, present pitchers are throwing balls faster (upwards of 100 miles per hour), and with more movement (such as the so-called curveball, slider, sinker, palmball, knuckle, etc.,--some moving 12 inches or more), thus requiring the player to watch the ball very closely after release by the pitcher in order to determine if the ball is worth attempting to hit.
Hands are exposed to injury during batting typically because the batter is watching in an effort to decide whether or not the ball will move into the strike zone. When the pitcher throws the ball high and inside with respect to the strike zone (meaning towards the hitters head/neck), oftentimes the ball is a curveball or other "moving" pitch and may break across the plate into the strike zone. In this case, the batter needs to watch the ball to insure it is going to curve, and thus is worthy of an attempt to hit it.
Unfortunately, pitchers sometimes release a fastball, which does not curve or move laterally as it approaches the plate, but which is moving towards the batter instead of the strike zone. There is little time for the batter to conclude it is necessary to take evasive action to avoid being hit by the ball. Furthermore, batters are trained to prepare for balls that curve or move by watching the ball all the way across the plate. This further reduces the time in which the batter can decide to take evasive action and move away from the ball. As a result, the chances increase that a pitch which is high and inside relative to the strike zone and which does not break away from the batter very well may strike the batter.
The potential injuries sustained by a hand when struck by a pitched ball that is high and inside relative to the strike zone include soft tissue damage as well as bone damage. The metacarpal bones along the back of the hand, especially the metacarpal bones connected to the little finger and the ring finger, are especially vulnerable to injury from impact by a pitched ball. As mentioned above, if even one of the metacarpal bones are broken, the player is unable to play for several weeks, if not months, resulting in the aforementioned adverse physical, mental and monetary effects.
While batting, most players use batting gloves on either or both hands. Batting gloves are light, close-fitting gloves which improve the batter's grip on the bat, and also protect against hot-spots and abrasions. Batting gloves are considered as personal items. Players are often sensitive and even temperamental about the batting gloves they use. For instance, batting gloves are sometimes considered good and bad-luck charms. Players are also often sensitive to their habits while batting, and will not accept additional weight or bulk which might adversely affect their bat speed. Also, batting gloves are basically considered consumable, and are sometimes used once and thrown away by the player. Sometimes the player also wears the same batting glove while on defense to help make the fielding glove fit more securely.
The contemporary systems developed for dealing with the potential hand injuries while batting have not resolved the problem. Some attempts include building rigid protection into the batting glove, the rigid protection covering both the back of the player's hand and part of the player's wrist. Other attempts have included rigid protection built into the batting glove over only the back of the hand. These attempts at reducing and preventing hand injuries have not proven successful for many reasons. One major reason is that the gloves are too structurally bulky for the player, potentially altering the player's swing, and thus making the player choose to risk injury. Other reasons include that the player cannot use the same glove in conjunction with his fielding glove when playing defensively, that the gloves are too expensive to be simply thrown away if the player decides it is bad-luck, etc.
As is apparent from the subsequent description, the aforementioned deficiencies in the prior art are overcome by the present invention.